The British Automotive Museum

Tony and I went to visit the British Automotive Museum, which is just north of London. And yes, we drove there. It is a very, very cool building housing some very, very cool cars.




Tony was excited to see the cars as he is a bit of a car buff, and went to see the Los Angeles Auto Show a couple of times back home.





The museum was having a special James Bond exhibit showing some of the cars used in production of this enduring franchise. They had the Astin Martin from the most recent "Quantum of Solace".





They also had several cars from other british automotive manufacturers, including Rover and Wolseley, Mini, and Triumph. This a great collection chronicling the fine British Automotive tradition.



Being the film geek that I am, it also was fun to see several prop cars from different films which were made in the UK. Among them was Lady Penelope's car from Thunderbirds, as well as a couple cars from Judge Dredd.

Sadly, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was not on display when we were there.





All of the cars were in top shape, and looked as if they could be driven out of the building on a moments notice.









Even the older cars looked well taken care of. The visit gave me a greater appreciation of the automotive industry as an artistic as well as technical field.





Probably my favorite cars were part of the Car Show outside. They had these really cool three-wheeled Messerschmidt cars. They were built shortly after the end of WWII and made use of a lot of the fuselage parts that had already been built. They looked like they would be very fun cars to pilot, I mean, drive.

London's Crazy Summer Weather

London has some crazy Summer Weather. It is changeable day to day, and that it can be sunny one moment, then cloudy, or even rainy the next. One day it might be warm and lovely, but the next will be cold. It's CRAZY in its inconsistency.









I've learned the difference between Bright Spells and Sunny Spells. I've learned that it can be hot and damp, and cold and damp, sometimes separated by on a few hours.





I've learned to carry an umbrella with me ALWAYS, as you never know when a surprise sprinkle will come out of that innocent looking gray cloud floating by overhead.





I've learned to check the weather report every morning with Carole, the lovely Scottish Weatherlady on the BBC. She is the best source to know whether or not I can ride my bike to work and back safely on a given day. And she is seldom wrong.





Carol is also the keeper of the Pollen Count. She can tell us in the morning whether or not Tony will be grumpier than usual as a result of the pollen being too high.







We call Carol our "Weather Wench", be know that she Carol is not to be taken lightly. She seems to have a direct line to Mother Nature and as such, this sunshine vixen will tease us with the possibility of sun, but only deliver rain.





It is a challenge to any would be BBQ chef to get outside when the weather is as indeterminant as it is here. At any moment, it seems there could be a Weather Warning, and down will come a "Heavy Rain".





Tony and I were caught in a sudden downpour one evening and got drenched. I'm guessing this was a bit of a laugh for Carol, who had predicted that rain was not due until much later that evening.





Probably, the best lesson I've learned is that if one never goes outside in London when rain is predicted, one wouldn't get to do much. Best advice is to go out, bring your umbrella, and don't be afraid to get a little wet. . .

A navel voyage to Greenwich

It was a beautiful (warmish) summer day, and Tony and I decided to head off to Greenwich, which is a burrough in south east london. We took the boat transport to get there so that we could enjoy the water approach.








Our guide as usual was our beloved Rick Steves' London book.








The boat ride on the Thames was beautiful and there are so many interesting buildings to see along the way - from the old London Tower Bridge to the ultramodern buildings of Canary Wharf.



Greenwich has a long history in relation to Britain's naval history and world exploration. We arrived at the palace boat dock and made our way to the British Naval Museum.





The museum is beautiful, and while we were there, it was having an exhibit of turn of the century model boats. They were actually my favorite items at the museum. They supposedly also have one of the few remaining, unused Titanic tickets. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find it.




From there, we walked up through Greenwich Park, which is where some of the equestrian events for the Olympics will be held, to the Royal Greenwich Observatory.








Here, by careful charting of the stars and timing their occurance over the observatory, the English were able to successfully chart East West locations for their ships at sea. This resulted in the Greenwich Mean Time and is the location for the 0 Longitude line that we still use today.

There is a large red ball on the top of a building that is visible all the way down to the port, and this ball would drop at exactly 1pm each day so that the captains of the sea going vessels could synchronize their ship clocks to Greenwich time. They could then track an offset in time of when a star system would pass over their ship, and by calculating 15 miles a minute to the time that same star system was recorded as having passed over Greenwich, they could then calculate how far east or west of the Greenwich 0 Longitude line they were.






A very ingenious solution for its time. And they still drop the ball to this day at 1pm.

There is also a line in the ground that separates the Western and Eastern hemispheres, and we had to get our picture straddling it.






Greenwich is a lovely little village like section of London, and it makes for a fantastic summer outing on a sunny day. I will definitely come back here again.

Flavored Crisps (Chips)

The British have way more interesting flavored Crisps (Chips) than what we have in America, where the flavors generally are regular, BBQ, Sour Cream and Onion, and Vinegar.






I've heard the British complain that the American flavors are quite dull by comparison, and I have to absolutely agree. I don't know what I'll do when I can't get spaghetti or bratwurst flavored chips when I get home.






Here in England, they have these flavors, but they also have a lot of beef type flavors as well as other more creative flavors. In honor of the World Cup, they had flavored crisps for many of the different nations competing.



Tony and I had to go out and buy the different flavor packs to try them out. It was a lot of fun to try the various unusual flavors combinations.

My favorite: Sweet Thai Chili! Ummmm.






At the time of the National Elections, they even had flavors representing the different parties and their candidates. I kept joking that the flavor for the outgoing party was going to be called, "Old Hambone."




Most recently, there was a taste challenge for people to submit their recommendations for a new and unusual flavor. Cajun Squirrel was the clear winner. I wonder if we will be able to try this one out sometime soon.

Wildflowers at Shoreditch Park

Early in the morning on weekends, I like to take the dogs over to the larger Shoreditch Park, that is across the canal from our apartment. They love to run around like crazy here. And when you share a small apartment with 2 dogs, it is good to let them out to burn off energy.



Right now it is beautiful with these swatches of wildflowers of all colors and sizes. The dogs love sniffing and crawling around amongst them.


There are even some beautiful bright orange poppies that remind me of California. . .

Tony and the Tower of London

We wandered down to the Thames River and went to visit one the most popular London Attrations - The Tower of London.

This was a fort going back practically to the days of the Roman fortification that was built on this location. You can still see parts of the Roman walls that originally surrounded the settlement.






The Tower grew over the years and became the fortification we see today. Inside the tower is the keep. This is the oldest part of the Tower, and you have to climb to the second floor to get inside. It has its own well, and would have been a great last refuge in times of danger.


The Tower also houses the "Crown Jewels". This is where you can see the crowns worn by the different monarchs over the years including the current crown which the queen wore to the ceremonial reopening of Parliament shortly after the current election. It is quite large and has a huge Saphire in the middle of it.

The tour takes you inside what amounts to a giant vault with a moving pathway so you pass by the crowns and the different scepters and other sources of regal authority.

We also saw the spot where so many historic people were put to death: Anne Bolelyn, Sir Thomas Moore, Lady Jane Grey etc. Tony and I are huge fans of the TV series "The Tudors", and the second season followed the rise and fall of Anne Bowlyn - Great Series.




We also saw the infamous "Traitors Gate" where Queen Elizabeth I would have been brought in to the Tower by boat when she was imprisoned here.

There was a great display of Armour in the Keep. Some of it is incredibly detailed and beautiful. It's amazing to think that people actually were able to maneuver and fight in these things.

I'd highly recommend seeing it. Henry VIII's personal armor was one of the most impressive pieces.


We felt fortunate that the crowds were small and we were able to walk around and see a lot.

The MONUMENT

Tony and I took off on the bus one afternoon to head over to see the Tower of London. We got off the bus at the Monument Tube Station, and not far from there we discovered the "Monument". It is a massive tower dedicated to the memory of the great fire that destroyed most of London over 100 years ago.

It turns out that the cause of the fire was traced back to a Pudding Shop (bakery). I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to look in the eyes of my neighbors after accidentally burning down the entire city. Of course, I almost burned down UCLA, but that is another story.

Tony and I climbed the 311 steps to the top of the Monument. It was quite an endless feeling spiral staircase. We had a good time, especially remembering all the other crazy stair climbing outings we'd done over the years in Europe.

The view from the top is pretty cool, but not completely exceptional as a lot of buildings have grown up around the monument, and now close it off a bit.

I do recommend climbing Monument, if for no other reason than to get a certificate of accomplishment you get when you get back down.